Operation Vira Lata, Cabo Verde, Africa

Cabo Verde

Animal Balance received word that an American woman in Cape Verde, Mrs. Judith Kizell Brans, was actively seeking help for the suffering dogs in the archipelago. Animal Balance conducted a feasibility study in 2013 in which. A month before she passed away, she kindly put Animal Balance in touch with Claudia Fernandez, who took over the coordination.

In January of 2014, our team flew in to work with the Bon Amigo’s volunteers and Claudia Fernandez to hold a ten-day mobile clinic. We sterilized over 80% of the dogs in each village and held a fun doggie parade on the last day to celebrate the animals. In 2015, Claudia Fernandez, understanding the importance of the agreements with the Mayor’s, then started a new NGO called Vira Lata, who focus on village MASH clinics with Animal Balance. In 2015, we sent dogs cages and dog traps to Vira Lata, building up the infrastructure for the future campaigns. Animal Balance won a scholarship for Claudia Fernandez so she could attend the HSUS EXPO in 2015 and meet others from around the world conducting the same work. Now ‘Love for Animals’ from Samoa are helping and advising Claudia with her NGO: Vira Lata. Vira Lata is the name of the local street dogs, hence Operation Vira Lata.